Lava and Light
by Fire Bear1
Summary: Arthur has finally found Alfred - but can he bring him back from the Dark Side or is Alfred truly lost? (This is meant for the 4th of July but it's a bit late.)


_**This was inspired by a May the 4th fanfic by Zeplerfer and also my own mind thinking about the earlier movies. (You can find Zeplerfer's story on AO3 - I just can't link you and don't have the link to tell you about it.**_

 _ **Also, I thought this particular bit would be good for a 4th of July thing so...**_

 _ **Warning: I'm not completely clued up on Star Wars information so I had to use Wookiepedia as well as typing from memory and watching the scene at a few points of writing on YouTube. So if anything's majorly wrong, just pretend it's because it's a different universe from the actual Star Wars one if that makes sense. ;)**_

* * *

After waiting a few minutes once the ship had landed, Arthur kicked out the panel of the spare compartment he had hidden in. Usually he would have complained about how cramped the space was, would have stretched and grumbled, would have turned to- Arthur shook his head, and clenched his jaw. No, he couldn't think of _that_ , not _now_. He had to stop this.

Using the Force to shield himself from the two droids on board, he slipped to the lowered ramp, his brown cloak billowing behind him. When he reached it, he stopped, hands on his hips as he stared down in disappointment. There stood Alfred F. Jones, the one he had raised and taught, the one he had helped to become a Jedi Knight. He wore all black, his silly little cowlick standing to attention as he excitedly told poor, pregnant Maddie his plans.

Maddie backed away, her pigtails swinging behind her head. "No, Alfred. That's-"

"The Galaxy will be ours to rule, Maddie!" Alfred explained, grinning in excitement. Arthur felt his heart clench in sorrow at that sight. When had Alfred grown so much? When had he become _this_? "We can make the Galaxy the way we want! All of the good stuff and none of the bad. I'll be Emperor and you'll be my-my Empress. Dontcha want that?"

Shaking her head, Maddie moved further away. "This isn't you, Alfred. What's _happened_ to you? Arthur was right."

"No, he's not. He's lying! This power will help to save you. I don't want to lose you, Maddie," Alfred pleaded, stepping towards her, carefully. Arthur was glad to see there was a sliver of the Light Side in him. Maybe he could still save him...

" _Please_ , Alfred," Maddie said. "Please come back to me. I love you but you're going where I cannot follow."

By that point, Maddie had moved away and to the side, giving Alfred a clear view of the ship. His eyes met Arthur's and, even from that distance, Arthur could see that his sky-blue eyes had darkened. Neither he nor Alfred smiled at their reunion as they would have mere days ago. Alfred's gaze finally slipped from his to stare at Maddie accusingly. "You lie!" he cried. "You're with _him_."

Turning slightly, Maddie spotted Arthur and her eyes widened. "No- No, I didn't-!"

"You brought him here!" Alfred yelled and lifted his hand towards her, his fingers curved as if to squeeze Maddie's throat. Immediately, her hands went to her throat as she gasped and pleaded.

That was the last straw. The last of the Light Arthur had thought he had seen had obviously just fled Alfred. Stepping down the ramp, Arthur spoke up. "Let her go."

"Shut up!" snapped Alfred, his glare turning on Arthur. "You turned her against me!"

"I did not," Arthur replied, calmly. "You did that yourself."

"Alfred," whispered Maddie, still clutching at her neck. Tears were beginning to drop free, trickling down her cheeks. Alfred glanced at her and seemed to be unsympathetic. Arthur also looked at her, worried now - he had thought Alfred's obvious love for Maddie would keep her safe. He had also hoped that her love could bring him back from the brink. Evidently he had been wrong and now Maddie was paying for his mistake. However, he would have keep a level head to get through this: he could not give in to his emotions as Alfred had.

" _Let her go_ ," Arthur emphasised, reaching the rock of Mustafar. Seeing as a fight seemed inevitable, he let his cumbersome cloak drop, leaving him clothed in his simple, beige garb.

After glancing between them, sizing up the threats, Alfred dropped his hand. Maddie collapsed to the ground. She wasn't moving and seemed to be unconscious: Arthur worried. However, he made sure to watch Alfred as they circled each other. Arthur's face was determined: Alfred openly glared at Arthur.

"This is your fault," snarled Alfred.

"It is only my fault insofar as I failed to keep you on the path of Light."

Barking a laugh, Alfred turned from Arthur, throwing an arm in the air. The older man took the opportunity to check on Maddie, placing a hand on her shoulder. This close, he could now feel the faint life still within her – along with that of the unborn child. He stood and stepped away from her as Alfred turned back to him, wondering how to get her onto the ship to safety. As he moved, he spotted the two droids Maddie had travelled with and realised that they would be just as concerned. If he drew Alfred away from the landing side, they could move Maddie...

"You think you're so much better than me? Ha! I have surpassed you in power, Arthur. There is no way you can beat me!"

"I did not come here for that, Alfred," Arthur told him, calmly. "I merely set out to stop you from continuing on this Dark path."

"No! The Republic and the Jedi are the ones who guide the Galaxy the wrong way." Alfred turned, eyeing Arthur. "I'm trying to make everything better – if you're here to stop me, then I can't allow that."

"The Republic and the Jedi stand for democracy!" cried Arthur, wondering how Alfred could be so blind to it. He used to believe so strongly in them... " _I_ stand for them!"

Alfred turned from him, stalking off for a few steps. He stopped and, without looking at Arthur, spoke up. "Then you are my enemy."

Feeling his heart sink, Arthur sighed. "Only the Sith deal in absolutes." With that, he reached for his lightsaber. In a practised, instinctive movement, he switched it on, the blue light stark against the black rock and red lava.

Meanwhile, with no hesitation, Alfred spun around, grabbing his own lightsaber. The blue which shone from it only served to remind Arthur of the lessons he had taught Alfred himself. How could it have come to this? Yet, he could not let him become a Sith so completely that all hope was lost – he wouldn't allow it.

Without further ado, they clashed, the sabers whizzing through the air, sizzling at contact. Arthur found that Alfred was stronger than the last time they had sparred. He began to find himself forced back. But Arthur could see, in both Alfred's eyes and his movements, that the rage and Darkness was blinding him.

Glancing at Maddie's prone form, Arthur made sure to lead Alfred away from her and into the rooms within the mining plant they had landed on. They fought their way down corridors, their sabers sparking along the metal walls. Alfred was ferocious and Arthur began to worry that the power of the Dark side was too much for him. But he would not give up; he would never give up so long as he had breath.

Soon enough, they came upon a large control room and Arthur put distance between them. As he did so, he noted the bodies of prominent Trade Federation members littered around it. A brief glance showed him that they had all the marks of a kill by lightsaber. Alfred had done this.

His body count was rising.

Suddenly, they locked, both unable to push the other back. Arthur braced himself and pushed harder but the younger man was able to push back with equal strength. Knowing that Alfred was the kind of person to use brawn and power instead of brains, Arthur decided to use the Force to help him. Unfortunately, Alfred seemed to know him too well for he lifted his hand at the same instant as Arthur and they began to push, locked in just the same way as the sabers.

In a sudden burst of Force, however, they both went flying to opposite ends of the room.

Arthur landed on a control panel and he paused to both orient himself and catch his breath. However, he couldn't sit there for as long as he wished, for Alfred had landed better, instantly on his feet and bounding across the room with lethal intent. As quickly as he could, he rolled off the ledge and lifted his saber to block Alfred's swing. Blue met blue once again.

Once more, they were on the move, Arthur backing out onto a platform. It ended in mid-air, looking out over a river of lava. In the middle of the river was a drill, huge and towering. With no more ground for him, Arthur leapt to the tower, clinging to it with one hand as he waited for Alfred's next attack.

He didn't disappoint. Alfred leapt for him, their sabers glancing as he landed below Arthur. Since his reach didn't allow for him to hit Alfred well whereas Alfred could easily reach his legs, Arthur began to climb, waving his saber behind him to stop Alfred's blows.

A droid hovered close to them, observing the fight. It was round and squat, large enough for a single person to stand on, Arthur noted. However, it didn't seem to know what to make of what was happening and it took off, whistling and beeping in anxiety. Perhaps it would bring fellows but Arthur knew they would only be destroyed if they drew too close.

As Alfred continued his attacks, his saber glanced off of Arthur's, singing through the air as it swung through an arc. Arthur watched as it sliced straight through a thick, metal wire, obviously designed to keep the drill upright. The large tower immediately tilted, straining the other moorings. Arthur clung to a metal ledge as it moved, Alfred doing the same as they paused, assessing the new situation. Unfortunately, with the wires on the other side now slack, the ones on the affected side were strained too much and they snapped, causing the drill to topple further as the rest of the wires snapped off. Free to be washed down the river by the force of the river, the drill bobbed and swayed.

Still clinging to the tower, Arthur was mildly aware of an upcoming waterfall – or lavafall – as Alfred continued towards him, his lightsaber flashing through the air. Arthur reciprocated his attacks, leaning down to bring himself closer to his target. However, Alfred was getting dangerously closer so he continued climbing, using the Force to help him balance as the drill continued to sway.

Finally, their journey brought them to the fall and the drill dropped, gravity pulling the top of the drill down to level out. With the tower on its side, Arthur leapt to his feet and turned to keep up his parrying. However, if they stayed on it, he knew that neither of them would survive. Glancing around, he spotted a few fussing droids hovering around the tower as if they could somehow catch it and put it back where it was supposed to go. Two of them were only big enough for one and with very little room for movement. The third was bigger and looked as though it was supposed to be a platform for someone to work upon. He chose that and jumped to it, landing gracefully and turned to look for Alfred as he used the Force to push the droid away from the area of impact.

His former Padawan was scrambling upwards as the bottom of the drill began to drop, in the process of flipping over. Just before impact, he leapt to one of the smaller droids and rode after Arthur as a tidal wave of lava followed. He looked impressive, almost as all-powerful as he believed he had become.

As he reached him, Arthur shook his head, looking at him with sad eyes. This was much more heartbreaking than he had imagined. The last time he had felt such sadness had been when his own Master had died. "I have truly failed you," he said, over the sound of the humming droids and the cascading lava.

The younger merely clenched a fist, growling back at him. "I should have known from the start! I should have known you and all of the Jedi would be trying to take over, to keep an iron grip on the Galaxy that you have no right to!"

"Alfred! Chancellor Beilschmidt is evil."

"From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!" Alfred yelled.

That shocked Arthur. How could Alfred think that? The Jedi were as peaceful as they could possibly be with the Sith on the prowl. For goodness' sake, most of them were Jedi Consulars! It just proved how far gone Alfred was. Holding back his tears, Arthur dismissed his grief so as to continue in this battle. "Then you are lost!" he declared.

And, as if his words were a trigger, they were back to parrying blows and attacking in turn, neither getting the upper hand as their droids continued down the river, dodging obstacles. At one point, Alfred's droid failed to move out of the way of a larger droid which was still beavering away. As his vehicle careered away from Arthur, Alfred leapt into the air, somersaulted and landed on Arthur's platform. Unable to hide a gasp at the sudden proximity, Arthur was quick to block another attack.

He knew that it was only a matter of time before one of them fell into lava without the proper area to move in. Then, out of the corner of his eye he spotted a large ridge of rock coming up on his left. Taking his chance before Alfred did, he flipped backwards and landed high upon it. Alfred drew the droid to a halt beside the piece of land they had found.

"You cannot beat me!" he declared, looking furious.

Arthur gestured to his spoils. "I have the higher ground. You have lost already." A thought flashed into his head, something Alfred could attempt. "No. Alfred, _please_ , don't try it." He shook his head: Alfred wouldn't try it, right? He wasn't that blinded by the Dark side that he would do something like that, surely.

"Don't tell me what to do! You're not my master any more!" With that, he flew into the air, flipping himself.

Wasting no time, Arthur raised his lightsaber and swiped at Alfred's legs. He hit his mark, cutting Alfred's legs clean off. The younger man fell to the ground as his limbs tumbled into the lava and instantly incinerated. Alfred shrieked in pain and slid back down the bank as his lightsaber landed several feet away.

"I told you not to try it!" cried Arthur, fighting the urge to rush to his side.

Alfred raised his head to look at Arthur and the Jedi Guardian barely recognised him. Those once-familiar eyes were yellowing from the Darkness within him and his hair was dirty from the ash and dirt, hiding the bright colour. His mouth was twisted in such an odd snarl. "Shut up! I _hate_ you!"

Taking a breath, Arthur turned off his lightsaber and made his way down to Alfred's. The ex-Jedi watched, struggling to keep himself from slipping down into the lava. After he had lifted the weapon, he backed up, staring at Alfred as memories flooded his mind. Arthur remembered the day they had come upon Alfred – or, rather, Francis had. His Master had seen his potential but Arthur hadn't, unwilling to accept it. But his belief in Francis had helped him to cultivate his own belief in Alfred as the Chosen One. And it had come to this.

How had it come to this?

"You were the Chosen One!" Arthur exclaimed, his dismay exploding from him. "You were supposed to bring balance to the Force, not shroud it in Darkness!"

" _I hate you_!" yelled Alfred, still struggling against the dirt on the ground.

"People believed in you and look at what you've become! _I_ believed in you!"

" _I HATE YOU_!"

Arthur could feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. He didn't let them fall but he couldn't stop himself from yelling back. "You were my brother, Alfred! I _loved_ you!"

There was no time for Alfred to reply, however, as he slipped further backwards and the ground at the edge crumbled into the lava. Catching his clothes, the lava caused fire to erupt and it began to quickly spread along his body. His beautiful, golden hair disappeared almost instantly as his body turned red from the burns. He screamed, whether from anger or pain, Arthur did not know but he had seen enough.

Unable to watch the man he had raised die or become any more corrupted, he turned, heading back to Maddie's ship and the injured woman within it.

* * *

A few hours later, a large hover-platform zoomed out across the landscape of Mustafar. Upon it were two clone troopers and someone wearing a black cloak which obscured them from prying eyes. They travelled down the river of lava before spotting a figure on one of the banks. Once the platform had stopped a few feet from it, one of the troopers vaulted over the side and rushed to its side. Rolling it over, they found an injured man who was barely breathing – but breathing nonetheless.

"Sir?" said the trooper, looking back at the person who watched from the sidelines.

Pale hands escaped the folds of the cloak and threw back the hood. Revealed beneath was a man whose hair was white and messy. His red eyes assessed the man, probing him with the Force. A cocky smile slowly spread across his face.

"Bring him. Fix him," said Chancellor Gilbert Beilschmidt.

The troopers rushed to obey, lifting the body of Alfred F. Jones as gently as possible. Alfred was dead, though; all that remained was Darth Vechter.

* * *

 _ **So you know, Kiku is Yoda. Even though that never came up.  
**_

 _ **I decided to let y'all know which Beilschmidt it was and I thought Gilbert would be awesome as the equivalent of Darth Sidious. (He has a different name but I haven't worked out what it would be so shush... It wasn't required in the story.) I figured the white hair and red eyes could be a result of the fight between him and the equivalent of Mace Windu (which may be Ludwig. I never decided) - like Palpatine became more aged.**_

 _ **Vader is Dutch for father according to the Internet. So I decided to try get a name to suit Alfred. Unfortunately, "freedom" wasn't all that catchy so I went with "fighter".**_

 _ **But... Can you imagine Arthur and Francis as Master and Padawan? It'd be hilarious. Happy 5th of July - I didn't get it finished on time. :(**_


End file.
